. >> senators from the stormravagedstatesbelievetheobamaadministrationwill propose roughly $50 billion in relief, far short of what the states want, $82 billion. >> is there that kind of money lying around? >> certainly not that kind of money lying around. it's such a complex time right now we're dealing with a host of issues. we're going over the fiscal cliffs. >> senator susan collins are facing budget cuts they would like to pay for the storm cleanup. the uncertain fate of the relief money comes little more than a month after the jaw dropping pre-rel pre-election image of president obama and governor christie shoulder to shoulder, a time when he promised to help victims quickly. >> i want you to cut through red tape. i want you to cut through bureaucracy. there's no excuse for inaction at this point. >> the white house said the president remains committed. >> there's no question what the president saw on staten island that enormous suffering continues. that's why we're looking at states and localities to continue the effort to assist in the recovery. >> reporter: a top congressional

just guessed it. president of theunitedstates, barackobama. >>>the poem is called "other." it's written by a beautiful young woman. her name is neo. sadly, that word other is how people are forced to describe ethnicity because they don't fit if a certain box. she says she was too light skinned for the black kids she grew up around. teasing and taunts of childhood still haunt her today. soledad o'brien tells her story. >> it's a poem about her life. but neo jones is struggling to recite it it aalways called me white girl. i was never ashamed of myself until they taught me to be ashamed. >> reporter: she calls it "other" or the biracial poem. it's about being bullied by black kids. >> i remember the taunts well in to the nights. the brands of vanilla took years to fade. >> reporter: now the tough part. she has to perform it at the first spoken word poetry competition of the season. it's painful. >> i pretended. no black mother to explain how this tall white man ended up with a short chestnut skinned girl. they doubted he was ever my father. >> reporter: seven hours until show ti

will happen any time soon. all this coming just days afterpresidentobamawarnedthe syrian regime of consequences if it turned chemical weapons on its own citizens. and today secretary of state hillary clinton saying the world has made that perfectly clear to president bashar assad. >> we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account. >> activists saying at least 40,000 people have died in the antigovernment uprising that began last year. now evidence the blood shed is again seeping across another border into lebanon. gunmen loyal to the syrian regime and rebels fought it out on the streets in the northern part of that country. dozens reported dead in two days of fighting there. similar clashes have erupted more than a dozen times before in lebanon. more violence and death that we can trace back to the actions of one man. and today a new warning from the head of the united nations that president assad probably should not expect any mercy from his counterparts around the world. jonathan hunt has more on that from t

in the phone call between speaker of the house john boehner and president of theunitedstates, barackobama. didthey come to a conclusion. it is now the president's turn. >> brian: it is a week since the president and speaker talked. i do not know at of this moment who called who. >> steve: we know no details. >> brian: it is good there is no details. i just talked to the president and he's not listening to me . i talked to the speaker and he dug in. that is a good sign. >> steve: keep in mind, the last offer on the table was made by the republicans. the republicans are waiting for a counter offer. the white house said that is not serious, we are waiting for a offer from the republicans. tim geithner was on cnbc yesterday and asked whether or not the federal government is preparing to go off the fiscal cliff in particular this administration. he answered unfortunately in the affirmative. here's tim. >> if republicans do not agree to that is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. >> we face no prospect of agreement that doesn't involve the rates going up on the top two per

laid back new year's celebration ever? no. celebration ofwashingtonstate's brandnew pot law. yes, they're smoking joints. >>> i dare you, like double dare you. obama administration bites and says, yeah, we're prepared to go off the fiscal cliff. >>> roger goodell, the commissioner football fans love to hate. there's a softer, gentler side of goodell. seriously. the nfl commissioner you don't know. "newsroom" starts now. >>> good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. smoke 'em if you got 'em. recreational marijuana is officially legal in washington state. shall we say a rather mellow celebration at seattle's space needle? pot smokers lit up like it was new year's eve. new voter approved initiative went into effect midnight. this pot party technically, is illegal. wz's law bans smoking pot in public places. for now the seattle police department is turning a blind eye. this notice was sent to all officers last night. until further notice officers shall not take any enforcement action, other than to issue a verbal warning, for a violation of initiative 502. m